It was purely accidental, as Yuvan Shankar Raja himself has said many a time, referring to his film debut with the 1997 flick Aravindhan. Producer Siva, impressed by his tunes had given his first project, and Yuvan did a great job on debut, as music lovers felt delivering a lovely melody like "Eera Nila" at 18, was something special. 1998 wasn't eventful for the young composer, but 1999 worked wonders.

Yuvan's announced his arrival strongly, as his compositions like "Irava Pagala", "Chudidar anindhu" for Poovellam Kaetupaar(1999) had variety and appealed instantly to everyone, and as Vadivelu utters a dialogue on songs composed by a character in the movie, "Fresh aa iruku ya" summed up Yuvan's work in the movie. Yuvan marched ahead, with lovely melodies like "Vennila Veliye Varuvala" in Unakkaga ellam Unakkaga, "Sollamal Thottu Sellum" in Dheena, which was an album that catered to the masses, and established him firmly. 

In 2001 began Yuvan era. His tunes for Thulluvatho Ilamai (which happened to be Dhanush's debut) were a rage among youth and turned out to be one of the main reasons for the success of the movie. Nandha saw Bala opting for Yuvan instead of his favorite Isaignani Ilayaraja, and Yuvan proved his decision right by giving soulful numbers like "Munpaniya", and the background score was also appreciated. After few more hit albums back to back in April Mathathil and Mounam Pesiyathe with memorable tracks like "Poi Solla indha manasukku" and "En anbe en anbe", Yuvan returned with Dhanush again.

His work for Kadhal Konden turned out to be the USP of the film, as all the songs were chartbusters, and the terrific background score was widely appreciated, as it became the first film score to be released in a CD in India. His haunting background score which elevated the central character's unusual state of mind is unmatched.  Yuvan's stunning album for Manmadhan fetched him his first Filmfare award, and at 25 he became the youngest to win the Filmfare then. 7G Rainbow colony was yet another milestone in his career, and his soul-stirring compositions became instant hits.

Yuvan was someone who never shied away from working with debutant directors while making sure he never compromised on the quality of music he delivers in their movies as well. From Murugadoss (Dheena), Selvaraghavan (Kadhal Konden), Ameer (Mounam Pesiyathe), Priya (Kanda Naal Mudhal), Tamilvannan (Kalvanin Kadhali), Venkat Prabhu (Chennai 600028), Ram (Katrathu Thamizh), Thiagarajan Kumararaja (Aaranya Kaandam), PS Mithran (Irumbuthirai) to the latest Elan(Pyaar Prema Kadhal), Yuvan has made sure his music helps their movies get a wider reach.

Yuvan also started making unique attempts with his music, and one of the earliest, was the first remix song in Tamil, with 'Aasai Nooru Vagai' in Kurumbu, which turned out to be a party anthem. He became the first Indian music composer to win the award for Best Musical score at the 2006 Cyprus International Film festival for Raam. His masterpiece work in Selvaraghavan's Pudhupettai had made use of Bangkok's Chapraya Symphony, which was the first instance in Tamil music. While he had been known for his music for urban flicks, he proved his potential by composing for the first time for a rural flick in Paruthi Veeran, and came out with flying colors, as he excelled in his rural attempt as well, leading to comparisons with vintage compositions of his legendary father Ilayaraja. Yuvan also brought back the single track release trend with the hit track Evandi Unna Pethan from Vaanam.

Besides the achievements and the awards he has received, after Ilayaraja and AR Rahman, Yuvan Shankar Raja happens to be the composer to have explored various genres in music, with his wide range of albums. Be it Jazz (Pom Pom - Briyani), Hip Hop (Pada Padakuthu - Moondru Per Moondru kadhal), Rock (Unakkulle Mirugam - Billa 2), EDM (Thathai - Manmadhan), classical (Aaha Kaadhal - 3 Per 3 Kaadhal, Kanda Naal Mudhalai - Kanda Naal Mudhal), Reggae (Oru Naalil - Pudhupettai), Gospel (Naan meendum - Billa), Latin (Agadam Bagadam - Aadhi Bagavan), Funk (Yaaro Uchikilai - Taramani), Death metal (Who am I - Vaanam), Lounge (Oh oh ennamo - Chennai 28), Trance (Yedho Mayakkam - Billa 2), Dubstep (Unakkagave - 3 per 3 kaadhal), Jack Swing (Naa naa - Briyani) or Gaana (Road la vandi - AAA), it's almost impossible to single out a genre that Yuvan has missed to explore and excel in his career. In a career spanning 2 decades, and more than 125 movies, the kind of exploration and excellence Yuvan has achieved, would still be a dream for youngsters making their baby steps in the Tamil music scene. Yuvan is also considered the king of Background scores/ theme music tracks, as his theme music bits in movies like Billa,Mankatha etc, elevated heroism and the scenes to a whole new level. While any composer would opt for a safe, mass appealing album for milestone flicks, Yuvan opted to go completely experimental for his 100th movie Briyani, and delivered a successful album as well with multiple genres.

With the period between 2001-10 being considered the golden period of Yuvan Shankar Raja, where almost all his albums were hits, and there were successful collaborations with makers like Selvaraghavan, Venkat Prabhu, Vishnuvardhan, Ameer, Ram etc, and the period post-2011 saw Yuvan looking for quality than quantity, reducing the number of films, and the arrival of many new composers, also brought in comparisons and lead to talks of declining form. Yuvan kept hitting sixes everytime he had a release, and be it a Dharmadurai or Chennai 28 IInd Innings or Nenjam Marappathillai or Pyaar Prema Kaadhal or Peranbu, Yuvan made it a habit to silence his critics with his music, and made sure he always stayed relevant.

Yuvan's career graph can be perfectly compared to that of Mr Cool of Indian cricket, MS Dhoni. Just as MSD began as an explosive batsman firing and smashing bowlers at will, Yuvan began with youthful energy and made sure every song he composed turned out to be a hit, and then came the transition period when Dhoni reinvented himself into a different batsman who can adapt to situations and Yuvan's career to witnessed a similar transition, where he started to reinvent himself by exploring music rather than limiting himself to the conventional styles and pioneered in bringing a lot of genres to Tamil music. To both these talents, the word "Comeback" isn't applicable at all, as both never went anywhere. They were, they are and they will continue to excel and entertain in their respective fields, and just like how Dhoni recently silenced his critics with his composed match-winning fifty, Yuvan has been ruling the roost with his latest hit number Rowdy Baby from Maari 2, reaching the 4th position in global Billboard, besides also creating and breaking several youtube records, making it loud and clear that there's none to end their reign. 

With many exciting movies like Super Deluxe, NGK, Maamanithan, Kolaiyuthir Kaalam, Sindhubaath, Kurudhi Aattam, Pink remake, Maanadu, Alice and many more coming this year featuring Yuvan Shankar Raja's music, one can definitely be assured of a musical feast from the Prince of Isaignani Ilayaraja's family,the Mr Cool of music!